Chaozhou gongfu teaware

A documented direct pour

In the published Chaozhou procedure, tea leaves the brewing pot and goes directly to the small cups. Section 8.15 first discards a little weak liquor from the front of the spout into the tray. The server then works anticlockwise from the upper cup of the triangular 品 arrangement, filling the cups in two passes. Section 8.16 distributes the last drops. No pitcher intervenes in this serving sequence.

DB4451/T 4—2023 · §§ 8.12–8.20 · 6–7 (PDF 12–13)

Rinsing, drinking and smelling are different steps

The earlier infusion in § 8.12 warms and rinses the cups; § 8.13 refills the pot. Do not confuse that rinse with the served infusion. Section 8.18 smells tea in the drinking cup; after drinking, § 8.20 smells the cup bottom. This is not the paired Taiwanese aroma-cup transfer described in the other guide.

DB4451/T 4—2023 · §§ 8.12–8.20 · 6–7 (PDF 12–13)

The scope of the Chaozhou procedure

DB4451/T 4—2023 was issued by the Chaozhou Market Supervision Administration and took effect on 30 October 2023. Its demonstration commentary is identified in § 9 and Appendix A. The capacities below belong to this specification, not to all historical cups or every present-day household. Wu’s illustrated Taiwanese pitcher service offers a separately documented alternative; it should not be inserted into this code’s direct pour.

DB4451/T 4—2023 · §§ 8.12–8.20 · 6–7 (PDF 12–13)

Four jobs on one table#

The small stove supplies heat, the kettle boils water, the pot or covered bowl brews the leaves, and the cups receive the infusion. The National Palace Museum’s account of the “four treasures” names a stove, Yushu kettle, Mengchen pot and Ruoshen cups.³

Keep the kettle and the pot apart when you read or translate. The kettle heats water; the pot brews tea. Calling both a 'teapot' loses the structure of the set.

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Stove and kettle#

The regional code describes a small red or white clay stove and a kettle made from local sandy clay. Keep their functions separate: the kettle holds water while the leaves steep in another vessel. DB4451/T 4—2023 §§ 4.3–4.4²

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The brewing vessel: pot or gaiwan#

The code favours the local hand-formed red-clay pot and also describes a wide-mouthed white porcelain covered bowl. It gives a capacity of 90–150 mL and recommends 110 mL. Its brewing examples for grade-two tea use about 8 g or 7 g in a 110 mL vessel, depending on the style of infusion. DB4451/T 4—2023 §§ 4.1, 5.3²

In Chaozhou a 'zhuni pot' usually means a local hand-thrown pot. The national heritage record for Fengxi pots calls the local clay hongni and the product a zhuni pot, describes throwing on a wheel by hand in about sixty steps, and names pear-shaped (lixing), shuiping, flat-lantern and flat-drum pots as common forms. See Chaozhou hand-thrown pot and Chaozhou red clay. Small Yixing pots were used too: the Hong Kong Museum of Tea Ware calls them an essential item for gongfu tea in the Chaozhou and Shantou region.

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Why 'Mengchen' is a type name#

The Hong Kong Museum of Tea Ware explains that gongfu pots became a class of their own, valued for small size and most often pear-shaped, and that their bases mostly carry the name of Hui Mengchen, a potter it dates to the mid-17th century. As a result 'Mengchen pot' became a general name for the gongfu pot. The same pamphlet quotes Yuan Mei, writing in the Qianlong era, that the cups were as small as walnuts and the pot no bigger than a citron.

So the name on the base of a small pot is a mark to read and record, not evidence that one historical potter made it. The same caution applies to the cups: Ruoshen or Ruochen is a famous name for a class of cup, not a signature on each one.

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Tray and small tools#

The shallow tray holds the cups. A separate shallow pot rest fits the brewing vessel, with a loofah pad beneath it. The rinsing set has three pieces: one for spare cups, one for immersing the pot and one for spent leaves and water. DB4451/T 4—2023 §§ 4.5–4.7²